Ashraf 3, home to thousands of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Manëz, Albania, hosted Mike Pompeo, the 70th United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on Monday, May 16.
Sec. Pompeo met with Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). During the five-hour visit to Ashraf-3, Secretary Pompeo also toured the “Museum of 120 years of struggle for Freedom in Iran,” the Fatima Az-Zahra Mosque, named after the revered daughter of the Prophet of Islam, and other landmarks built in MEK’s new home. He delivered a speech at a gathering of PMOI/MEK members in Ashraf 3.
This visit coincided with the sixth day of the ongoing nationwide protests across Iran where brave locals in numerous cities took to the streets calling for regime change and democracy. The recent protests have been sparked by a dramatic hike in the prices of food staples.
“I’d also like to recognize President-elect Maryam Rajavi.”
Under her leadership, the National Council of Resistance of Iran is laying the groundwork for a free, sovereign, and democratic republic in Iran,” Sec. Pompeo said in his speech at Ashraf 3.
“A serious missing factor in U.S. policy towards Iran has been the lack of political support for the organized opposition,” Sec. Pompeo said. “The regime in Tehran went to the extreme to massacre 30,000 political prisoners, whose main targets and a majority of victims were the MEK. The threat of attack extends far beyond Iran’s borders, with the regime having waged terror plots in Europe and the U.S. against the leaders of this movement. Now, to correct the Iran policy, no matter who is in the White House, it is a necessity for the U.S. administration to reach out to the Iranian Resistance and take advantage of its tremendous capabilities. Ashraf 3 is one such place to focus on,” he continued.
Monday, May 16, 2022- Maryam Rajavi meets Sec @mikepompeo in Ashraf 3, Albania, discussing the current situation in #Iran pic.twitter.com/kUUgNq4N6a
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) May 16, 2022
“Ebrahim Raisi, the butcher who orchestrated the 1988 massacre, is now President… The turnout was the lowest since 1979, marking a total rejection of the regime and its candidate. It was, in fact, a boycott of the regime – and the regime knows it. The regime is clearly at its weakest point in decades,” Sec. Pompeo emphasized, further highlighting the fact that the mullahs’ regime is only in power through an iron fist and lacks a popular mandate.
“Raisi has already failed. He has failed to crush uprisings in Iran or break the noble spirit of dissent within the Iranian people,”Pompeo underscored.
With Sec @MikePompeo at the gathering of MEK /PMOI in Ashraf 3, in support of #FreeIran2022 pic.twitter.com/pgphK4FQV7
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) May 16, 2022
“We must continue to support the Iranian people as they fight for a freer and more democratic Iran in any way we can. There is so much good work that American civil society can do to further this goal. It is the work your organization is actively engaged in,” Sec. Pompeo said, citing the Iranian people’s yearn for a free, democratic, and non-nuclear republic.
“In the end, the Iranian people will have a secular, democratic, non-nuclear Republic. I pray that this day will come soon and with the support of Iranians living all around the world – and those who resist from within — that day will come sooner. I am committed to this cause; I know you all are too,” he concluded.
.@mikepompeo Welcome to Ashraf-3, the house of the Iranian people’s Resistance. #Iran pic.twitter.com/0k8zFJ1H5u
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) May 16, 2022
Madam Rajavi welcomed Sec. Pompeo and voiced her gratitude for visiting the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK in Ashraf 3. She highlighted the determination of the Iranian Resistance and the Iranian people as a joint force to bring an end to the mullahs’ four decades of human rights violations, warmongering, terrorism, and destruction inside Iran, across the Middle East, and beyond.
“For a while, the mullahs tried to portray Iraq as the enemy. Then, they tried to portray the United States as the enemy. But the people of Iran and the MEK say that our enemy is in Iran. The mullahs said the MEK were terrorists, a cult, and the enemies of God. They claimed the MEK did not have any base of support in Iran. There are many similar and baseless allegations,” NCRI’s President-elect explained.
The Iranian people and the mullahs’ regime have been in a harsh confrontation for the past 43 years. It will continue until a free democratic republic is established in #Iran. #FreeIran2022 pic.twitter.com/YSuNkI7c3t
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) May 16, 2022
“Yes, by glancing at the objective conditions and the successive eruption of uprisings in Iran, today one can see that regime change is on the horizon,” Mrs. Rajavi continued. “The people of Iran have already decided to engage in the final confrontation with the regime… The Shah resorted to mass killings and martial law in the final months of his rule, but it had the opposite effect. Likewise, Khamenei appointed Ebrahim Raisi, an executioner implicated in the massacre of political prisoners, as his regime’s president, to close ranks in the face of the uprisings and save his regime.”
Appeasement or decisiveness? Siding with the ruling dictators or with the people? This has been the major challenge of #Iran policy over the past four decades. #FreeIran2022 pic.twitter.com/cDeCqyLCZJ
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) May 16, 2022
Concluding her remarks at the PMOI/MEK’s gathering at Ashraf 3, she reiterated the Iranian Resistance positions and expectations from the international community.
“Today, we warn again that one should not delay. We say that we can and must free Iran, the Middle East, and the world of the evil of the nuclear mullahs.”
- First, by imposing comprehensive sanctions and international isolation of the religious dictatorship. The mullahs’ regime should be placed under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
- Second, by referring the dossier of human rights abuses in Iran and the clerical regime’s terrorism to the UN Security Council, particularly the files on the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 and the killing of 1,500 during the November 2019 uprising.
- Third, by recognizing the struggle of Iran’s rebellious youths against the IRGC and the struggle of the entire Iranian nation to overthrow the mullahs’ regime.
- And finally, as you said, “In the end, the Iranian people will have a secular, democratic, non-nuclear Republic.”
We can and must liberate #Iran, the Middle East, and the world of the evil nuclear mullahs. #FreeIran2022 pic.twitter.com/8FYECvFhbr
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) May 16, 2022
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